The Seeker from Above: A Gregor the Overlander Fanfic

Chapter 9

Previously...

"Allow me to translate," Twitchtip said, not even bothering to move. "She said if you don't stop your incessant babble, that big rat sitting in the boat next to you will rip your head off."

A serene silence followed and Stella felt like hugging Twitchtip and saying, "thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" But she thought that Twitchtip probably wasn't friendly enough for hugs.

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They were far out into the Waterway now. The torches had been extinguished when the shiners arrived, and the fireflies' glow only illuminated the immediate area. Stella couldn't make out any signs of land around them.

There were waves, too, now. And even a decent breeze. Mareth and Howard ran silken sails up the masts and were preoccupied with steering the two vessels. Their bats settled comfortably together and dozed off. Orion stayed by Stella's side; maybe he didn't know the other bats well enough to join them.

She felt like it was the perfect time to get to know Orion, "So...I heard you come from the Fount. How is it like there?"

"It is the same as Regalia, except that we don't get many Gnawers up there," said Orion.

"It is because of the river. It runs along the sides of the Fount and acts as a barrier from the Deadlands," Howard spoke up from the bow.

"So...how big is the Underland actually?" Stella asked.

"Oh, it's larger than you could describe it, if you'd include the Uncharted Lands," said Orion. "I believe it's larger than the expanse of all land in the Overland."

"I guess...since you don't include all the oceans and seas," said Stella.

"What are these oceans and seas you speak of?" Orion asked, curiously.

"Oh, well, they are large stretches of salt water that separate lands,"

"A bit like the Waterway,"

"The Waterway is salty?" Stella asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes, see for yourself," he grinned, gesturing his wing towards the side of the boat.

Stella stood and made her way to the side of the boat; she leaned, cupped some water in her hands and cautiously drank. When the salty sensation tickled her tongue, she spat the water and opened her hands, releasing the water.

"I can see," she gave out a suppressed laugh.

Mareth called a dinner break and passed around food. The fireflies ate with gusto, even though they had just been fed.

After everyone had eaten, Mareth lowered the sails in his boat and hooked the front of his craft to the back of Howard's with a towrope. "Howard and I will take turns sailing the lead boat while the rest sleep. But we need someone on guard and one shiner on duty at all times."

"Zap will take the first shift," said Photos Glow-Glow. "My light requires more energy."

"It is a lie!" howled Zap. "I can only make one color, but the effort is the same. He only says this so that he will be given more food and less work!"

"Photos Glow-Glow will take the first shift," said Twitchtip. "Or I'll shred his wings into ribbons." So that settled that. "Who wants to watch with him?"

"We are many and can switch guards every two hours or so," said Mareth. Gregor agreed to take the first shift.

Stella was exhausted. She hoped that she was exhausted enough to fall asleep; unlike last time.

Howard took his place by the rudder to steer. His bat folded its wings to sleep; Orion joined her. Twitchtip, who had barely moved since they left Regalia, closed her eyes. Zap's soft yellow light faded out, and she began to snore. Photos Glow-Glow, on the other boat, turned his bulb to a steady orange light and lit on the bow, illuminating the space between the boats.

Stella stretched out on the side of the boat. It was quiet except for the lapping of the waves, soft breathing, and firefly snores. The rocking of the boat had a hypnotic effect. Stella's eyes slowly closed as her thoughts wandered out of her head and she drifted off into a blissful, dreamless sleep.

Somewhere around the middle of the night — well not exactly the night since there was no night or day down here — Stella awoke to the sound of Gregor's desperate screams.

Stella suddenly sat up, as if awaking from a nightmare. Right before her eyes, giant red tentacles were darting across the boat. In the other boat, Ares was struggling to pull Gregor out of the water; all that she could see of Gregor was his legs. Just then, Ares tugged so hard, that Gregor flew out of the water. Ares caught him by the boots and dropped him on the floor of the other boat.

Stella averted her attention to the boat that she was in, to catch a quick glimpse of a tentacle, darting towards her. Orion grabbed it by his claws and threw it overboard.

"Take this!" Mareth yelled over the commotion.

A sword landed next to Stella.

Does he expect me to fight?  Thought Stella. I've never even held a sword before.

Stella stood, realizing that fighting was the only hope to get out of this, alive. She gripped the hilt of the sword tightly.

She gazed around the boat, watching the way others fought. Howard was strategically slashing away at tentacles that latched onto the boat. Twitchtip was using her teeth and claws to rip away the appendages from the ghastly creatures looming in the dark water beneath them. Zap was using her pincers to sever them away and the bats were latching their claws onto the bigger ones, throwing them back into the gloomy water.

Stella perceived a flash of red from the corner of her eyes. A particularly large tentacle wizzed towards her. A sharp pain blinded her vision and she dropped the sword, rubbing her eyes. Within a matter of seconds, she felt impact as the tentacle swiped at her side, knocking her onto her back. As the back of her head hit the rock-hard bone, the world turned black.

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